A bipartisan group of 13 U.S. lawmakers and a human rights group are urging Nigeria to hand over ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor to a United Nations-backed court.

Both the lawmakers and the group Human Rights Watch have written separately to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is due to meet with Liberian President-elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on Thursday.

The groups said they hope Ms. Rice will urge the president-elect to press Nigeria for Mr. Taylor's transfer to the court.

Mr. Taylor has lived in exile in Nigeria since 2003. The U.N.-backed court in Sierra Leone wants him on war crimes charges.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he will only release Mr. Taylor to an elected Liberian government.